The Dorado Lottery

Endless Season Update 05/28/2008
REPORT #1116 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Scott Barker with a late afternoon rooster

Offshore the action has been sporadic. There seems to be plenty of billfish around, with many spotted on the surface feeding, but they are so quick that it is all most impossible to be there fast enough…by the time you arrive, all that is left are a few scales!

On the dorado front, everybody enters the “dorado lottery” but only a few have a winning ticket.

Mike Little, our client from Calgary, Canada, spent the day searching for a cooperative billfish. He finally raised one that tried to eat everything but his fly. In the end Mike went home with no hook-ups but he was stoked on seeing those marlin and left with the bug to return for more billfish! We’ll see him again in November.

Inshore the white bonito were still in front of El Cardonal and were an easy mark for a little mid-day sushi. Note to self: Remember to put some more soy and wasabi in the gear bag before the next trip.

There is an abundance of small roosters and ladyfish slicing and dicing the excess bait tossed by the returning boats at Palmas de Cortez in the afternoon
.
The beach is also producing some roosters. Most of the fish being landed are the ‘schoolies’--- to 5lb's or so. But there are ‘grandes’ on the prowl as well. As always it's a matter of fishing hard and being a bit lucky enough to be there when the big ones cruise within range.

Last week I stopped by Mike O’Dell’s La Trinidad R.V. Ranch in La Ribera. They are only open on Friday and Saturday nights but if you are in the neighborhood and looking for a good meal you might give them a try.

Bar open daily
Happy Hour at the bar @ 3:00 - 5:00 PM
CLOSED on Sunday
Reservations please, @ 130-02-06 with Reina Cota RVranchtrinidad@yahoo.com
Driving Directions:
Turn off from the Highway 1 at Las Cuevas Bridge to La Ribera and Cabo Pulmo.
Travel approximately 7 miles through the town of La Ribera, turn right and follow the beach road south to the Pemex station on the far side of town. Just before the Pemex station, turn left and follow the signs into La Trinidad R.V. Ranch

Tip: It is always a good idea to have at least one outfit rigged when you board the boat. It is not unusual to encounter some action close to the shore.

Water temperature 73-80
Air temperature 67-96
Humidity 48%
Wind: NNW 8 to 11 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:32 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:00 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Bob Hoyt reported that there was still quite a bit of wind but the larger yellowtail had moved in just off of Lazero.

The esteros are producing good catches of sierra and corvina on the surface. Down deeper the grouper and pargo have become more active as the water begins to warm up.
Water temperature 60 - 66
Air temperature 67 -96
Humidity 55 %
Wind: WNW 14 to 18 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:37 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:11 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

The blue marlin action is still very strong. At least 5 to 7 blues a day are being hooked by the 20 boat fleet. When I had called Adolfo on the panga Dos Hermanos by cellular, he told me they were still fighting a huge blue, and had been on it for over 6 hours. He also told me he has been having good success this week on sailfish and roosters on the beach.
David Cooper, fishing with Margarito on the Gaby took 10 yellowfin tuna and a sailfish in one day. The tuna were averaging between 35 and 45 pounds. With huge schools scattered throughout the area, they are being taken from 12 miles to 20 miles off the beach.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 76-98
Humidity 45%
Wind: W at 9mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 7:11 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:17 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

WEATHER: This week brought us cooler weather than we have had for a while. Our nights were down in the low 60’s; I saw our thermometer read 61 degrees here at the house one morning. Our daytime highs were in the high 80’s. On Wednesday the wind started to blow, and blow hard, from the northwest, occasionally shifting more from the west. That lasted until Friday morning, and then it became nice again.
WATER: Ugly is the term I have to use for our water conditions this past week, I sure hope things improve quickly. On the Pacific side of the Cape we have had the warmest water at 72 degrees, and that has been in a big circulation just to the south of the San Jaime Bank. It got as cold as 58 degrees right next to the beach just above the lighthouse mid-week. With the cold water comes color, and for the most part the water was very green. The current from the Pacific side must have been extra strong this week; the full moon may have had a lot to do with that. Anyway, the cold water from the Pacific started to push up into the Sea of Cortez, causing green/blue banding out as far as 50 miles and up the coast until the Vinorama area off of Punta Gorda. The warm water up there was 72 to 74 degrees. The farther up the coastline you went, the better things became. The wind that kicked in on Wednesday made offshore conditions miserable as well. On Wednesday you could not fish on the Pacific side if you wanted to, and things were not much better on Thursday, to the point that the Port Captain closed the Port until 11 am Thursday.
BAIT: Mackerel and Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were Sardinas at the Palmilla area at $25 a scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: Before the winds and currents moved the fish, the WCBRT, held on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, had the top team release 57 Striped Marlin over the three days. The second place team released 34 and the third place team released 27 fish. These were professional teams fishing on the same boat every day. In comparison, last year the top two boats tied at 33 releases each. During the tournament the fish seemed to be holding just to the east and north of the 1150 spot. When the wind and currents started, the fish moved way up to the north. There were almost no Marlin caught after Tuesday, and at the end of the week boats had to travel 2 ½ hours up the coast to find any fish. The bright spot is that it seems the warm water is moving back in our direction and the fish that are being found are starting to feed again. Hopefully next week things will be better.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again the bite on Yellowfin was slow; I saw very few white flags flying from the outriggers this week. The few Tuna flags I did see were for Bonita. I discovered this while looking at the fish carts coming off the docks with fish from the boats flying these flags. I heard of no Yellowfin being found in our area this week.
DORADO: The cold green water moved the Dorado out as well; this week was a bust for them. A couple of fish were caught, but they were found a long distance away, up in the warmer water off of Punta Gorda.
WAHOO: The cold water moved the Wahoo out as well, even up at Punta Gorda the bite was not happening, and normally the full moon and structure there provide decent action.
INSHORE: This was the only bright spot at the end of the week for us. On the Pacific side, if you went past the lighthouse you were out of luck, but off of the Pedregal and the arch there were schools (small) of Pargo and groups of Yellowtail For any other inshore action you needed to make the trip up the coast of the Sea of Cortez, and even then, during the middle of the week, it was a long trip home against the swell sand the wind. If you did get up there, the fishing for Roosterfish to 30 pounds, Sierra to 8 pounds, the occasional Amberjack, lots of Jack Crevalle and a few Pacific Barracuda made the trip worthwhile.
NOTES: This was one of the worst fishing weeks I can remember having had in quite a while. Maybe that is the reason for listening to Stevie Ray Vaughn while writing this report; a little blues goes a long way! The bright spot is that it appears that the warm water is moving back our way! Until next week, tight lines!
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 66 - 93
Humidity 35%
Wind: SSE at 7mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MST
Sunset 8:00 p.m. MST

Full Moon Redeemed…Again!!

Endless Season Update 05/21/2008
REPORT #1115 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996

East Cape

Jim Rowland with a Muertos Bay jack
This was a week of more refusals than a California homeowner selling a house!

We threw sardina and/or large baits at free swimming billfish and big dorado all week and never even saw so much as a swirl for our efforts. By Monday night the chatter at all the bars at East Cape buzzed blaming the damn full moon as being the cause of the lethargic behavior of the fish offshore! My client told me that he and his buddies agreed that the full moon must be the cause, and he asked what I thought. I answered that fishermen want something to blame conditions on and the full moon is as good as any.

However, on Wednesday morning the full moon went down, the fish came up and the bite was on. Mark Rayor emailed the following: “The fish came up and started feeding in the afternoon at Pulmo. They were not plugged with squid and were eating sardines. The bite was good for everybody in the area.”

Inshore was a different story: Big jack crevalle, small roosters, and white bonito were ‘on the chew’ most of the week from Muertos Bay to El Cardonal…close to shore.

Tip: It is important to keep your rod pointed at the line when stripping. If you don’t, the hook set will be cushioned by the rod tip preventing a solid hookup.

Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 60-91
Humidity 70%
Wind: S 7 to 10 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:34 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:57 p.m. MDT

Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

According to Diana Hoyt of Mag Bay Outfitters, the sierra and firecracker yellowtail bite has been good in spite of windy conditions. She also reports that the grouper has began to bite along with the corvina.
Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 55 -85
Humidity 76 %
Wind: W 10 to 14 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:39 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:07 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico

It is the month of May, and the annual return of the fantastic blue marlin bite has arrived. With the blue water only 6 miles off the beach and lots of bait fish in the area, we are averaging at least 1 shot at a blue for each boat. The hookup ratio is quite a bit less, but there are at least 4 or 5 blues being caught each day..which is not bad considering there are only about 15 boats on the water.
Besides the occasional large dorado being taken, the yellowfin tuna have finally arrived. They are only in the 30 to 40 pound class right now, but this should be a prelude to the larger fish moving into the area.
Sailfish action is a bit spotty, but the boats are averaging 1 or 2 a day each.
Inshore has the roosters are showing up again, and in fairly decent numbers. Good action is still going on up at Saladita, with a few reported at Buena Vista.

Ed Kunze

Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 75-95
Humidity 91%
Wind: SE 2 mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 7:12 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:14 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas

WEATHER: Our daytime highs have been in the mid to low 90’s while the nighttime lows have been around 72 degrees. We also had mostly sunny clouds this week, a nice change from the past month. Light winds have been from the northwest, just enough to cause an afternoon chop on the water, but nothing big.

WATER: There was an enormous difference in the water temperature between the Pacific side and the Cortez side of the Cape this week, and it was strongest just off the beach. In the area just off the beach at the Golden Gate Bank we saw water as cold as 55 degrees while the water on the Cortez side was pretty evenly at 77 degrees. Offshore there was a difference as well, but not as large. On the Pacific side, north of a line between the Cape and just to the south of the San Jaime Banks we had water temperatures in the low 60’s and just to the south it warmed up to the low 70’s. On the Cortez side from the arch to the 95 spot and then south and west, we had pretty much 80-82 degrees everywhere you went. The area between these two extremes was a mixed bag of 68-72 degree water. As is normal, the cooler water had much more of a green tinge while the warmer water remained blue.
BAIT: Mackerel and Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were Sardinas at the Palmilla area at $25 a scoop.

FISHING:

BILLFISH: We just finished the 2008 ROLEX/IGFA Offshore Championship Fishing Tournament this week. There were 63 teams fishing for 4 days, a total of 232 fishing days, and the result was approximately 350 Striped Marlin released. At an average of 1 ¼ fish per day this was just about the same as in the 2003 tournament when they averaged 1 ½ fish per day per boat. The top team in this year’s tournament released a total of 13 Marlin and 1 sailfish over the four days. We had the World Billfish Catch and Release Championship Tournament start this weekend and we will see how they do as well, I’ll report the results next week. Meanwhile, the fish this week were found from just off of Gray Rock to outside between Gorda Bank and the 1150 Spot. They were not feeding well, as a matter of fact we had clients on Friday who said they saw over 100 fish but could not get one of them to eat. Maybe it was a sign, but the last day of the tournament was on Friday as well, and that was reported as being the slowest for them.

YELLOWFIN TUNA: Once again the bite on Yellowfin was slow; I saw very few white flags flying from the outriggers this week.

DORADO: As the water continues to warm the Dorado continue to show up in larger numbers. Almost every boat that went out this week was flying at least one Dorado flag on its return, and most of the fish were decent size. We had clients catch one of about 60 pounds on Wednesday, and another group on Thursday caught two fish averaging 40 pounds each. The warm water on the Cortez side was the location and both slow trolled live bait and fast moving bright colored lures in smaller sizes worked well.

WAHOO: There were some decent Wahoo caught this week and most of them came from either the Gorda Banks of the Punta Gorda area. Darker colored lures and slow trolled live bait worked on fish ranging from 25 to 50 pounds. There were not a lot of them, but enough to make a little more effort worth it. Maybe 25% of the boats fishing for them lucked into fish.

INSHORE: Yellowtail in the 8-10 pound class were to be found from the arch in front and up to the lighthouse on the Pacific side. There may be more fish farther north, but there was no reason to travel that far. Live bait, small Caballito and Mackerel, were the best baits if you did not have large Sardinas, but small Rapallas worked as well. Just off the arch there was a decent concentration of small Roosterfish in the 10 pound class and they were biting on the live baits as well as a few that were caught on fly gear. Up on the Cortez side, in the warmer water, there were a few larger Roosterfish caught and released, fish that ran from 30 to 50 pounds. The best bite on these larger fish was in the afternoon. Anglers working for Snapper and Grouper just off the bottom had decent luck using chunks of bait and yo-yoing jigs in 110 to 200 feet of water along any of the points in that direction. These fish were between 5 and 15 pounds in size. A few surprise Amberjack moved in as well, generating some scorching runs and burned thumbs!

NOTES: Good news this week was no Seiners in the area; the bad news is that the reason they were not here is that there are no Tuna! Maybe they got all of them last week? Sometime soon we should have new schools move into the area, it can’t be too soon for me! Sorry to the few of you who will get this late, but we had the computer crash yesterday and my wife spent all day getting it back in shape. Thanks dear! Until next week, tight lines!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 62 - 88
Humidity 67%
Wind: SSE at 17 mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:56 p.m. MST

A Burp and a Flick of the Tail…

Endless Season Update 05/14/2008
REPORT #1114 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Many believe that this is a sea snake but it is a Tiger Snake Eel and not poisonous!
A few cloudy days brought a tad more humidity. First we had five flat calm days allowing us to travel in any direction without spilling our drinks, and then the past two were windy and grumpy.

Noah Rowles, along with two buddies from Southern California, chose to spend his bachelor party getting ‘hooked up’ before getting hitched in June. Since there was no bait available at East Cape, we had them out as early as possible so we could run up to Punta Perico for sardina. Then for the first two days, we fished tight to the beach near El Cardonal, They had plenty of action, doubles and triples on roosterfish, skipjack, bonito, white bonito and some huge schools of large jacks that kicked their collective butts.

Every afternoon, the group hopped on ATV’s and sped down the dirt road behind the beach to drink Pacificos and catch more fish. The most unusual catch of the trip was a snakelike eel which managed to get a hook in it and then proceeded to wrap itself up in the line.

Offshore sailfish, striped marlin and quality dorado were strung out from Punta Pescadero to the 88. Tales of lots of fish and double digit spottings exchanged during Happy Hour got the guys all fired up and convinced them to break the cardinal rule, “Don’t Leave Fish to Find Fish.” Sooo… their last day out we followed the fleet. It all started off well with an early thirty-five pound dorado. Then it was one jumper and tailer after another! But they were so plugged with squid that that their reaction to our offerings was a burp and a flick of the tail.

Scott Mattei, Lodi, CA, fished the beach on Tuesday and in spite of a pesky south wind, he managed to fine-tune his hook-set techniques on a variety of fish at “Bartle Beach”. He is heading out for more practice this morning hoping for some larger quarry to grab his fluff and bend his stick.

Tip: At the end of your retrieve, sweep your rod to the right or left to accelerate the fly. If a fish is following the fly, the additional speed will often trigger a take or at the very least the fish will follow the fly to the surface alerting you to its presence.
Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 63-97
Humidity 77 %
Wind: SSE 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 4 miles
Sunrise 6:36 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:54 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

No Report

Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 61 -90
Humidity 89 %
Wind: W 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 3 miles
Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:04 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
The 80º blue water has finally moved in to where the game fish are reachable. It is just a short 6 mile boat ride to the blue water. The 15 boat fleet had been averaging about 1 or 2 sails a day each, but with the blue water coming in this close, the action should improve considerably.
Tomorrow, Clint Hugh, of Dallas, TX, has charted Santiago on the panga, Gitana, for two long days to find the yellowfin tuna. Santiago is an excellent tuna fisherman, so I will keep you posted.
Fishing with fly fishing client, "Doc" Coulthurst of Portland, OR, we found small jack crevalle and small roosters up above Saladita. We were fishing on the panga, Pepino.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 79-99
Humidity 57%
Wind: SW 3 mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 6 miles
Sunrise 7:13 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:11 p.m. CDT


Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: It looks like things are changing a bit down here. This week we had mostly cloudy skies, a bit of wind at the middle of the week and no rain, but it felt like it should have rained. Our nighttime lows varied between 68 and 75 degrees while the daytime highs were in the high 80’s to low 90’s. With the cloud cover the humidity kicked up a notch.
WATER: The Pacific side of the Cape was cooler than the Cortez side at 68-70 degrees and was off color as well. The greenish water wrapped around the Cape through the middle of the week and crossed into the area of the 95 spot. On the Cortez side of the Cape the water was much warmer, and the farther up to the north you went, the warmer it got. In the area of Punta Gorda and the Gorda Banks we were marking water as warm as 81 degrees, and it was blue water. Elsewhere on the Cortez side (offshore) the water was in the high 70’s and pretty clear.
BAIT: Mackerel and Caballito were available at the new price of $3 per bait, and there were Sardina at the Palmilla are at $25 a scoop.
FISHING:BILLFISH: There were a lot of Marlin to be seen on the surface up in the Palmilla area close to shore but they were stuffed with squid and did not want to eat. Lucky boats were catching one or two per trip. There were a few decent Sailfish coming from the same area as well. There was not a lot of action on the billfish front but I am awaiting reports from a few friends that went up to fish the warm water on the Cortez side, they should be back early this coming week. My fingers are crossed.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: A few boats caught a few small football sized fish after the seiners left the area. Overheard on the radio were reports of them talking to each other and bragging about stuffed holds, guess they took all the fish.
DORADO: A few small fish were caught close to home, but the concentrations we had earlier were with the Tuna, guess the seiners got most of them too. I am hoping the warmer water to the north on the Cortez side holds more and they will work their way down to us.
WAHOO: What Hoo? New moon phase.
INSHORE: Green water on the Pacific side had most of the Pangas fishing the Cortez up around Palmilla point. These boats were getting some decent Sierra and Amberjack as well as some Snapper and Grouper. Bait of choice was Sardinas.
NOTES: Bad news was the seiners showed up again and wrapped all of the fish, the government allows it and now we don’t have anything to fish for. The good news is that the water is warming up and we should have a new mass of fish moving into our area soon. I really don’t know how else to put it other than the fishing this past week was extremely poor. My fingers are crossed that the government does something to regulate the encroachment of Seiners into the sport fishing areas. Tuna from the seiners goes for $480 a ton to the packing plants; wonder how much that same fish is worth in income from sport fishing? Enough said, I don’t want to get into trouble.

Until next week, keep your fingers crossed for tight lines!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 61 - 91
Humidity 78%
Wind: WNW 9 to 12 knots
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:38 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:53 p.m. MST

Right Place + Right Time = Great Day

Endless Season Update 05/07/2008
REPORT #1113 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape


Mexican Seiner in Vista Sea Sports front yard this week...photo Mark Rayor
Weather is still a little ‘squirrely’, with wind one day, then, none the next.

There are plenty of billfish and dorado being seen on the outside throughout Palmas Bay. The fish are lethargic most of the time and seem to be full of the preponderance of squid that is here right now. One boat slid up on a shark buoy, threw out a handful of sardina to see if there were any dorado hanging out only to have the Sea erupt as a school of sailfish ran down every last one as they hit the water! The dorado that were caught this week seemed to be good quality, 35 – 40 lbs. None-the-less it was another “more shots than snaps for most anglers.” Another indication of the spring turnaround is the number of blue marlin which were spotted this week; one hotel reported two landed.
Closer to shore, the skipjack and white bonito were feeding on the surface making them easy targets for anyone who was interested.
I guess the large schools of small yellowfin have left the building, compliments of the Mexican seiner fleet. Hopefully, at least some of the fish split before the nets hit the water and will return after the seiners leave.

Beach action included ladyfish, pompano and a few small roosters and jacks. The trick was to find the bait (sardina and mullet) and stay with it until the bigger fish showed up.

The week could be summed up…right place + right time equals some good action!



Tip: When fishing the beach, keep moving until you find the bait. When you are casting, “fan cast” left-center-right, and then move on if nothing happens. Don’t keep casting over the same water unless you see some kind of indicative signs that there are fish there.Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 60-89
Humidity 47 %
Wind: ENE 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:41 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Still cooler water temps outside, so most of the action has been confined to small yellowtail and an occasional skipjack or bonito. Just inside the Entrada, there is a good showing of sierra. The tricky part is getting to them before they sink out. Still, good halibut action in the shallows near the sandy beaches like Belchers.

Not many takers, neither anglers nor fish this week. Even the rumors of pargo, corvina and a few snook biting up above Lopez Mateos wasn’t enough to lure anyone out. Maybe it was too much partying on Cinco de Mayo?


Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 62 -88
Humidity 39 %
Wind: NW 6 knots
Conditions: Partly Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:46 a.m. MDT
Sunset 8:00 p.m. MDT


Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
Very little change for the inshore fly rod situation. I fished with "Doc" Coalthurst, from Portland OR, down South at Puerto Vicente Guerrero and did not do well on roosters or jack crevalle.
Adolpho. on the panga Dos Hermanos, told me he is getting good jack crevalle action up around Saliditas, which is about a one hour boat ride to the North.
Cali, fishing with Martin, took 2nd place in last week end's 120 boat tournament. The sailfish for the 1st place was only 38 kilos (about 86 pounds). This is a record low for weights in the 32 year annual tournament. Cali told me there were a lot of fish, but almost all of them were below the 30 kilo mark.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 77-99
Humidity 60%
Wind: SW 3 mph
Conditions: Mostly Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:17 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:09 p.m. CDT

Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: We had just another week in paradise with our daytime highs varying between 90-95 early in the week and 85-90 later in the week. Our nighttime lows varied as well with 75 early in the week and 65 later in the week. That nighttime low of 75 on Monday and Tuesday night forced us to turn on the air conditioner! We had partly cloudy skies all week long with winds at 10-15 knots from the northwest with occasional higher gusts.
WATER: There was little change in the surface conditions from last week. The Pacific side of the Cape had swells at 3-5 feet and the Cortez side had 1-3 foot swells. The water temperature on the Cortez side was a pretty even 74-76 degrees from the shore out to around 12 miles, then it became 67-69 degrees for another 12-20miles, then there was a pretty strong break where it warmed right back up. On the Pacific side the temperature remained around 66-69 degrees. On the Pacific side from the Golden Gate and across the San Jaime Bank and toward the beach the water was a fairly dirty green, the closer to shore you got the dirtier it got. This plume of cool, green water extended to the south of the Cape keeping the water outside the 1,000-fathom line that dirty green.
BAIT: There was plenty of bait this week as the larger boat brought in plenty of Mackerel to sell to the Panga bait boats. With the small moon the bait boats were able to catch plenty of Caballito as well. This week the bait was the usual $2 per bait. When we purchased bait on Saturday, our supplier informed us that as of this coming Wednesday all the boats were raising their prices to $3 per bait. Keep in mind there has not been a raise in the bait price for almost 8 years, so this is not unexpected.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: Once again the billfish were very easy to find this week, all you had to do was get out on the water. From just off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side around the Cape to the Punta Gorda area they were everywhere. Early in the week they were on the surface sleeping and tailing. Unfortunately, they were also full! They may have been stuffing themselves on squid once again, but for whatever the reason, you could throw baits to 25-30 fish and be lucky to find one or two that were hungry. A few boats resorted to drifting live baits deep, and this technique did work a little better than trolling lures while casting bait to fish on the surface. As the week went on the fish seemed to move up the Cortez coast just a bit and then back to in front of the arch. At the end of the week the ratio of fish baited and fish hooked improved a bit and most boats that tried to work Marlin were able to catch between two and four per trip, definitely an improvement over earlier in the week. Mackerel was the bait of choice; Caballito just didn’t seem to get the fish interested. The Striped Marlin averaged around 120 pounds.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: At the beginning of this week all the purse seiners we had out front last week had gone north, leaving us with just “scales drifting down” where before we had great fishing. Of course the fish were not around, they had all moved out or had been scooped up in the nets! Well, on the positive side, on Saturday this week the fish re-appeared just two miles out off the arch and lighthouse. These fish were also a bit larger with most of them between 20-30 pounds with a few pushing 40 pounds. One hour in the fish resulted in 16 Yellowfin for one of our groups of anglers. Almost anything worked, as these fish were very hungry. I went up on the Cortez side on Saturday and we got into a very larges group of dolphin with birds everywhere and large schools of bait showing up on the depth sounder. No Yellowfin though, and I could see two super seiners just on the horizon to the north, off of Los Frailles. I wonder if they had already gotten all the fish?
DORADO: The warmer water out front brought more dorado into our area and most boats were able to get at least one or two fish per trip. One of my friends was fishing up off the Punta Gorda area earlier in the week and found a dead whale that had been around long enough to attract quite a collection of life under it and was able to limit out on fish averaging 15 pounds. There were a few fish in the 30- pound range there as well. Everywhere else the bite was just all right with bright colored lures and live bait fished for Marlin getting the most fish.
WAHOO: The moon phase might be wrong for Wahoo this last week as I did not hear of any of them being caught.
INSHORE: Our anglers tat fished off of Pangas this week continued to do well with a varied catch including Roosterfish to 15 pounds, Sierra to 8 pounds, Yellowtail to 15 pounds and an assortment of bottom fish such as snapper and grouper to 10 pounds. The majority of the fish were found just off the beach on the Pacific side but when the late afternoon winds kicked in the afternoon trips worked off of Gray Rock and Cabo del Sol for the same type of fish. On Saturday, when the Yellowfin showed up so close to the arch, almost every Panga out there was in the mix, and they all did well. Quite a few of the Pangas were working just off the beach for Marlin as well throughout the week, and were averaging just about the same as the cruisers.
NOTES: The Seiners left, that’s good news, there are Tuna out front again, that’s good news! Live bait is going up in price on Wednesday, that’s bad news! I’m done with this week’s report, that’s good news! Until next week, tight lines! Give a listen to the music of an old Fender Stratocaster player, Dick Dale on his album “Spatial Disorientation”, that’s weird news!
George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 57 - 85
Humidity 53%
Wind: SSE at 18 mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 10 miles
Sunrise 6:42 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:50 p.m. MST

Sea of Cortez…“Road Kill”

Endless Season Update 04/30/2008
REPORT #1112 "Below the Border" Saltwater Fly-Fishing reports since 1996
East Cape

Billfish took center stage this week with the best April showing of sailfish in recent memory! While it wasn’t WFO as far as bites, there were enough shots to cause some to complain about a malady…something akin to tennis elbow.

Dorado action seems to have slowed with mostly singles showing up in the teasers and then disappearing quickly.

As in Cabo, the tuna seiners seem to have scooped up the current crop of football sized tuna leaving only a few scales here and there!

Inshore and beach action consisted of more jacks than roosters though there were a few small roosters to ten pounds caught on rooster alley and between La Ribera and the lighthouse.

The following falls into the “I don’t make this stuff up” department:

“Highlight of my beach fishing this week was finding a freshly beached amberjack of about 10lb's. Must have beached itself chasing bait. We took him home and filleted him--still twitching as I cut it. Very tasty stuff!”

Tip: When trolling teasers for billfish, the best way to control your line is by keeping it in a bucket or container of some kind so that it doesn’t get blown about the deck, being stepped on or tangled. When a fish comes up behind the teaser, immediately drop your fly into the water a short distance so that you can use the water to load the rod. As the person teasing calls for the cast and the boat comes out of gear, with a single false cast, cast your fly across the wake. Don't use the rod tip to set the hook. Instead, strip strike and let the fish run.
Water temperature 66-78
Air temperature 65-95
Humidity 29 %
Wind: SSE 7 to 9 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:45 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MDT


Magdalena Bay, Baja Mexico

Still the small yellowtail action at the Entrada along with a few sierra on the surface. Still a pretty good lump outside, preventing much fishing activity for the local fleet.

Water temps in the esteros remain low and there was little activity this week. Halibut in the shallows off of the sand beaches continued to bite pretty well. A few grouper and pargo up above Lopez Mateos on an incoming tide and some corvina feeding on the surface near Boca Santo Domingo.


Water temperature 62 - 70
Air temperature 62 -91
Humidity 35 %
Wind: WNW 12 to 16 knots
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 5 miles
Sunrise 6:51 a.m. MDT
Sunset 7:56 p.m. MDT

Zihuatanejo, Mainland Mexico
There has been little change this week, with basically the same results of last week. The boats are averaging 1 to 2 sailfish a day each, the tuna are still too far out, and out of reach, and few dorado are showing in the counts.
This weekend starts our annual three-day sailfish tournament, with an expected 140 boats pounding the water from Friday until Sunday.
With the new moon on Monday, and after a few days to let the water calm down from the tournament, I really expect the fishing to take off. It is now May, and May is one of our best months of the year for the large tuna and blue marlin.
Ed Kunze
Water temperature 80 - 84
Air temperature 71-99
Humidity 65%
Wind: W 21mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 9 miles
Sunrise 7:19 a.m. CDT
Sunset 8:07 p.m. CDT


Cabo San Lucas
WEATHER: I guess that I probably don’t say this enough, but I have to let you know that this is just about my favorite time of the year for the weather. We have had morning lows in the mid to high 60’s and our daytime highs have just reached the low 90’s. The week began with mostly cloudy skies on Monday and on Tuesday afternoon they started to break up. The wind was kicking in a bit early in the week as well. The clouds brought no rain and after they were gone the winds were very light, just enough to put a light chop on the water in the afternoon. The week ended on a very nice note with clear and sunny skies and light winds.
WATER: The Pacific side of the Cape had swells at 3-5 feet but spaced well apart. On the Cortez side south of the Punta Gorda area things were nice with swells at 1-3 feet. On the Pacific early in the week and up past Punta Gorda the winds kicked it up a notch and the water was choppy. On the Pacific side the water temperatures were lower than on the Cortez side with 69-71 degree water almost everywhere. The temperature break was a straight line north to south off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side. East of the break the water warmed to 75 degrees and out at the Cabrillo Seamount late in the week we had some water as warm as 82 degrees for a day or so.
BAIT: This was a tough week to get bait; the bait boats were working hard at snagging Cabillitos right at the mouth of the marina and were not having a lot of luck. I heard of quite a few instances of bait boats charging as much as $5 per bait. That is high, but not bad if it is the right bait, but the fish definitely preferred Mackerel, and the Caballito are not in very good shape after being snagged. In other words, bait was scarce this week, and expensive.
FISHING:

BILLFISH: Once again there were plenty of Marlin out there but the bite was still off. There were plenty of squid in the area and the Marlin were stuffed. A few boats were doing all right on Mackerel (a scarce bait this week) and a few fish were caught on Caballito, but the majority of fish were hooked on artificial lures. The Striped Marlin were all over the place from a mile off the arch to 5 miles off of Gray Rock, you had no problem finding fish, but they were not very hungry. On the Billfish side of things, I heard that several weeks ago there were three or four large Blue Marlin, one in the #800 and a couple on the 500-600 pound class caught right out front when these small football Yellowfin first showed up. I didn’t hear of them at the time, but was told of them yesterday by a very reputable Captain.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Yellowfin Tuna were the fish of the week, at least at the beginning of the week, and are also the “rant” fish of the week. At the start of the week, under the cloudy skies, hordes of football size fish, from 8 to 20 pounds showed up jut off the beach from 2-5 miles from the arch. All the tuna you wanted were available and everyone limited out on fish. On Wednesday the Purse Seiners started to show up. On Wednesday there were 6 boats out there, on Thursday there were 9 boats, on Friday and Saturday there were 13 boats, at least 8 of which were super Seiners over 200 feet long and with spotting helicopters n the decks. They were fishing these tuna just 2 miles off the beach. The marines went out and stopped two of the boats and chased them away, but said that the others all had permits to fish there. These fish have hold that can carry 1,500 TONS of fish. Needless to say, at the end of the week a good day on the water resulted in a dozen or fewer tuna for the sport fleet. There were the occasional nice fish; the largest I heard of was a double on fish in the #70 class.
DORADO: The warm water has resulted in an increase in the numbers of Dorado being caught. Most boats are getting a fish or two a day; on Saturday we caught four Dorado between 12-18 pounds. They are in the same area as the tuna and marlin, right in among the Seiners. A live Caballito dropped back after a hook-up resulted in at least one of our fish, the others bit on bright colored lures.
WAHOO: There were a few Wahoo caught, again in the warm water out front, but not many of them. Average size was reported at 25 pounds.
INSHORE: The warmer water resulted in fewer Yellowtail being caught this week, but an increase in the numbers of Roosterfish. The Roosterfish are still on the small side with an average weight of around 5 pounds. Live bait was tough to come by so while the Caballito were large, there were not many of them and the ones anglers used were getting pounded hard by the Roosters. Most of the hook-ups were a result of luck, as the baits were much too large for the fish. The Sierra bite has dropped off as a result of the warmer water but the Pargo and grouper bite has become better. With the Tuna so close to shore, many of the Pangas were targeting them, and they had good luck.
NOTES: The Tuna Seiners had everyone up in arms, especially late in the afternoons when they started to set nets around the few sports fishermen that stayed out. I had thought that they were not allowed by law to fish any closer than 20 miles form the beach, and not at all within the Sea of Cortez, but I must have misunderstood the rules. Anyway, I overheard more than one local crew complain and talk about doing something, but since the Marines are letting them fish, it must be legal (right?). If we saw these numbers between one and 6 miles off of the beach, imagine how many more are just beyond the horizon. If these boats continue to fish right in front of Cabo, look for the numbers of all species caught by the local sport fishing fleet to drop off quickly. I remember what just 2 of these boats did to the fishery on top of the Gorda Banks six years ago; it took four years for the fishery there to recover. The Pangas and fishermen out of San Jose ended up ganging together and throwing rebar anchors into the middle of the Seiners nets while they were fishing and powering out, ripping their nets up. Until next week, keep your fingers crossed!

George & Mary Landrum

Water temperature 67 - 75
Air temperature 61 - 91
Humidity 32%
Wind: SSE at 22mph
Conditions: Sunny
Visibility 11 miles
Sunrise 6:47 a.m. MST
Sunset 7:47 p.m. MST